Prophecy of the Silent Stars: Creekstar's Promise
by Stargone
Summary: Creekstar has made his way up, from being the kittypet newcomer, to being leader of his clan-SilentClan. But something is brewing...an ancient evil is rising in the Dark Forest...and evils lurk within the clans as well. Can Creekstar lead his clan through these troubling times? (A story to help with my writers' block)
1. Prologue

Prologue

"Tristan, wait up!"

The kittypet Tristan's amber eyes shined softly in the darkness as he glanced over his shoulder. An awkward, tumbling shape moved toward him through the tall grass, each pawstep crunching loudly in the leaves beneath them. She puffed as she caught up, her small form crouching lower to the ground briefly as she caught her breath.

"Maybe…we should go back…" she panted.

Tristan cocked his head. "Go back?" he murmured, his voice barely audible above the whispering wind. "We can't go back, Angie. We've got to find the clans, remember?"

"They're an old myth, Tristan, a legend!" Angie's voice was pleading. She sounded close to tears. He'd never heard her like this before. "Mother just told us that story to scare us!"

Tristan touched his nose gently to his sister's. He knew, even though she didn't, that it wasn't just a story. That his mother, who said her name had once been Cherryblaze, had once been a clan cat. "Don't worry, Angie. I promise we'll get there soon."

"It doesn't exist," whimpered Angie. "I want to go _home,_ Tristan."

"We can't go home," he muttered. There was nothing left for them there. Mother was gone, their twolegs were gone…they were alone. Abandoned.

A rustle to his left made him prick his ears. Angie pressed herself against his side. He could feel her heart pounding.

Three pairs of eyes gleamed from the shadows. Two older cats and one younger slid forth through the gently waving grass. Tristan positioned himself in front of Angie protectively.

"Who are you?" asked the younger cat, a light brown tabby, flicking her tail. "You smell funny." She wrinkled her nose.

"Stand back, Berrypaw. These are kittypets," meowed one of the older cats, a tom. Berrypaw took a step back immediately, her eyes flickering with disdain. "Oh, ew, no wonder they smell so weird."

"Get lost," the older tom snarled at Tristan. "Do you understand me? Get. Lost."

Tristan opened his mouth to hiss. His legs shook beneath him, but he stood his ground. Whimpering, Angie hid her face in his fur.

"Oakbranch, don't be cruel," said the third cat. "Look at them, the poor things. They're not doing anyone any harm."

Oakbranch took a step back, shuffling his paws. "But they're kittypets," he mumbled.

The third cat flicked him over the ear with a tail tip. "Shush, Oakbranch. That's racist and unnecessary, and you know it."

Oakbranch grumbled something inaudible.

"Come little ones, how about you come back to our camp? Our leader can check you over." The third cat padded softly toward them, ushering them with her tail. "Come now."

Slowly, Tristan stepped forward, falling behind the older cat as the three cats led the way back to camp. Angie tucked herself by his side, stumbling and tripping a bit as she tried to keep herself right next to Tristan, trying to match his stride exactly.

"This is ludicrous," Oakbranch mumbled, half to himself.

"Don't worry," said Berrystep brightly. "When I'm leader, I'll make sure we cut every kittypet who dares enter our territory to ribbons!"

Oakbranch smiled fondly. "There's my girl." He gave her a quick lick between the ears.

"Stop flirting with your apprentice," the third cat scolded.

Angie leaned up and whispered into Tristan's ear, "I'm scared. Are they gonna kill us?" Her amber eyes were wide with fear.

Tristan clenched his teeth. "Don't worry. I won't let them. I'll protect you, always." That's what his mother had told him to do when she'd carried the young Angie in from the cold outdoors. _She's your sister now. Protect her with you life._ And he would.

"You promise?" said Angie, her voice small and terrified.

"I promise," he replied.


	2. Creekstar

The full moon was clutched in the claws of the reaching oak branches, where Creekstar sat, gazing down at the clan cats' shining eyes. He shifted, readjusting his grip on the branch beneath him. It wasn't all that comfortable up here, but seeing the supportive gazes of his clanmates allowed him to bear it for the time being. Fernstar sat perfectly still on her branch beside him, eyes half-lidded. When she spoke, her voice was silky. Creekstar felt his fur prickling. Her voice always did that to him. It gave him a strong feeling of unease.

"We honor our newest warrior, who is here with us tonight—Driftcloud."

Creekstar cheered along with the clans, fluffing out his fur against the cold and Fernstar's voice.

"Creekstar, have you anything to report?" she asked coolly.

Creekstar lifted his head. "Yes. I'm proud to announce that my mate Lilyshine is expecting kits again." He peered into the crowd of cats to find Lilyshine's pretty green eyes. She was smiling.

"Congratulations," Fernstar purred, her voice sounding almost slimy with false happiness. "That's wonderful news."

"Thank you," he replied, a little smile creeping across his face. Even if she was lying through her teeth, what she said was true—it was wonderful. He couldn't wait for his kits to be born—and neither could his sons and daughter. His daughter was here right now, in fact. He scanned the crowd to find her sitting next to her mother, beaming with pride.

"I believe this Gathering is over," said Fernstar smoothly, and she dropped down form the tree and flicked her tail to her deputy, Burnstorm. He'd been speaking with Berrystep, Creekstar's deputy, but he rose to his paws when he was beckoned and followed his leader without a word.

Creekstar leapt down from the tree, grateful for a chance to stretch his legs. Ambersplash butted him in the shoulder with her head, purring. "You spoke awesomely!" she said with enthusiasm.

"You always say that," he said, grinning. "How are you?"

"I'm great," she replied confidently. "I talked Heavycloud into giving me some of his catmint."

"SilentClan couldn't have asked for a better medicine cat, Angie," he told her, feeling warm pride fill his chest. His sister had come a long way—just like him. But now here she was, the medicine cat of SilentClan.

Her smile faltered. "There was one better," she whispered.

He brushed her side with his tail. "Shadewing knew you could do this job better than anyone. That's why he chose you as his apprentice."

She nodded. "I'm doing my best to be just like him," she said.

Creekstar muffled a snicker. "I'd prefer if you just be yourself, Ambersplash. I don't want another grumpy Shadewing on my paws."

She laughed too.

Berrystep sauntered up to them, looking mildly disapproving. "What're you two laughing about?" she asked.

"Nothing," said Creekstar quickly. She'd definitely start preaching them about how they should "respect" the old medicine cat and his ways. _Because he was a clan cat, so his ways are_ proper. Sometimes Creekstar wondered why he'd appointed Berrystep as his deputy, but then he'd look at her—so solid and strong and a picture of feminine grace, beauty, and lethalness. She demanded to be listened to, to be followed. She was the perfect deputy.

 _Maybe too perfect,_ Creekstar thought. "You ready to go?"

"Whenever you are," she replied steadily. So he turned and led the way out of the clearing, Berrystep, his sister, and the rest of the clan following him.

/\ /\

(O v O)

Creekstar's ear flicked. He dozed in the entrance to his den, feeling Lilyshine's warm fur pressed against his back and the weak sunlight making patterns through his eyelids. He breathed in the crisp leaf-fall air and then let it out in a gentle sigh. His mind slipped softly into a dream.

 _Cool air rushed through his whiskers. He felt a warm shape sitting beside. "Angie?" he whispered._

 _"Right here," she replied._

 _He saw Leafstar, her green eyes peering down at him. "The she-cat is quite small, but the tom…he shows promise."_

 _Creekstar blinked. "Leafstar, it's me. Creekshadow."_

 _"They're_ kittypets," _came Berrystep's scornful, youthful voice from behind._

 _Creekstar turned. "Berrypaw?"_

 _But there was no one behind him._

 _"Promise," Leafstar hissed. "You show promise, Tristan. I name you Creekpaw. You show promisssssse…."_

 _"Leafstar, what's going on?" Creekstar glanced at his sister, but she wasn't there. Instead, a young Berrypaw was huddled by his side, her eyes wide._

 _"You're a kittypet," she said. "Kittypets can't have_ promise."

"Creekstar! Creekstar!"

His eyes snapped open, coming to rest on the young cat before him. He recognized his young apprentice Owlpaw's dark tabby fur and amber eyes. "Owlpaw? What's wrong?"

"It's…it's Wrenpaw," the young apprentice panted. "I can find her anywhere."

"Where did you see her last?" Creekstar asked, springing to his feet. He felt Lilyshine startle behind him, and he rested his tail tip on her flank.

"I don't know." Owlpaw looked distressed. He'd always been the nervous one of his siblings, and now he looked like he might be having a panic attack.

"Calm down," Creekstar said, "we'll find her, I promise." Nervous energy buzzed in his paws as he bounded up onto the top of the hollow tree where his den was. "SilentClan!" he called. "Wrenpaw has gone missing!"

Cats began to crowd around the hollow tree, eyes wide with shock.

"What do you mean?" asked Berrystep, her tail lashing.

Owlpaw rushed to his mother's side. "I can't find her," he cried. "I can't find Wrenpaw."

"Oakbranch?" Creekstar called. "When did you see her last?" Oakbranch was Wrenpaw's mentor—and, Creekstar had long suspected, father. He and Owlpaw had a similar look to them, and Berrystep had always been close to the older tom. Neither had ever said who the father was, though.

Oakbranch shrugged. "She was with Kestrelpaw."

Creekstar looked to Oakbranch's sister, the first cat who'd ever been kind to him—Honeyclaw. "Where's Kestrelpaw?"

"I haven't seen her," Honeyclaw admitted, eyes wide. "I took them out hunting not long ago, but then I brought them back here. They were supposed to be bringing prey to Streakeye."

Creekstar jumped off the log and padded to the elder's den. "Streakeye, have you seen Kestrelpaw or Wrenpaw?"

"Sure thing," said the old tom. "They brought me a squirrel a while back. They were laughin' about somethin' or other. They left in a hurry. I saw 'em leave camp."

Creekstar's stomach clenched. _Not good._ "Okay, Berrystep, Oakbranch, Honeyclaw," he said, his voice taking on the tense authority it did when he was nervous. "You're coming with me to find them." He turned to his apprentice. "You stay here, Owlpaw. We'll bring your sisters back."

Owlpaw nodded his head, terrified.

Creekstar led the way out of camp, breaking into a run once he'd picked up the apprentices' scent. He could feel Berrystep at his heels and he knew Oakbranch and Honeyclaw weren't far behind.

 _"Help me!"_ a scream suddenly pierced his ears, and a jolt of adrenaline shot through his veins. Berrystep burst past him, her breathing heavy in his ears. The smell of blood tingled in his nostrils.

"We're coming!" he yelled.

 _"HEEEEELLLLP!"_ the scream came again. _"SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP!"_

Creekstar burst out into a clearing and came skidding to a stop, his eyes widening, when he saw a limp ginger-and-white shape on the ground, blood pooling around the still body, a red fox with jaws parted to show gleaming white fangs crouched above it.

"KESTRELPAW!" Berrystep cried, and she flung herself at the fox.


	3. Shadows Falling

Berrystep landed on the fox, ripping clumps of its red fur out with slashes of her claws. She sunk her fangs into its neck. Oakbranch followed her into the fight, his teeth snapping the fox's leg. Creekstar bounded over to Kestrelpaw's side and gently rolled her over. Her blue eyes were glazed and her mouth hung half open. Her back end was twisted at an odd angle. Creekstar felt bile rise in his throat, but he forced himself to crouch beside her and grip her scruff, dragging her away from the battle. Blood streaked across the grass behind her as he pulled. To his surprise, she started squirming. Her eyes bulged. "Wrenpaw!" she sobbed. "Wrenpaw!"

"I'm right here! Kestrelpaw!"

Creekstar looked up to see the dark brown tabby she-cat over his head, waving her tail. "Kestrelpaw, you're alive!" she was calling. "I'm coming down! I'm coming!"

Kestrelpaw's front legs scrabbled at the air. "Wrenpaw!"

"Shh! Don't move," said Creekstar. "Honeyclaw, go get my sister!"

Honeyclaw nodded and took off back toward camp.

"I smell blood…" Kestrelpaw murmured, shivering wildly. "What's going on? Creekstar?"

Wrenpaw had made it to the ground and was pressing her side against her sister's. "Hang on, Kestrelpaw, Ambersplash is coming!"

Ambersplash barge through the trees. Together she and Honeyclaw lifted Kestrelpaw and carried her back to camp, Wrenpaw following them.

Creekstar turned and was about to join Oakbranch and Berrystep fighting the fox, but just then it shrieked, shook them off, and fled.

Berrystep spat out a mouthful of ginger fur, wiping her bloody claws in the grass. For a moment, Creekstar gave a little shudder of horror at the sight of her like that. Pure rage, a haze of red surrounding her. He blinked, and then the image was gone.

She turned on him, her sky-blue eyes sharp. "Where's my daughter?"

"Ambersplash and Honeyclaw brought her back to camp," he replied. With a growl, she charged in the direction of camp.

Oakbranch stayed back a few seconds, a sneer directed toward Creekstar. "You're a terrible leader," he spat. "You let your own deputy's daughter die."

"She's not dead," Creekstar responded steadily, although he felt shaken deep inside. He had learned to put on a strong front for his sister when they'd been traveling alone. It had come in handy as clan leader.

Oakbranch hissed. "She'll never look at you like you look at her, you know" he added a tad smugly, and stalked back to camp.

Creekstar blinked. _Look at me like…like what? Like she's scared of me? Could he tell how I saw her?_

But no, that wasn't the way he'd said it. Creekstar padded slowly back to camp as he pondered the older tom's words. _What could he have meant…?_ For some reason, he felt nervous about it, though he wasn't sure why. He quenched that feeling quickly.

He entered camp and quickly made his way to the medicine den. He found Ambersplash and Berrystep huddled closely over Kestrelpaw's body.

"Is she…" He was afraid to ask.

"There's a good chance she could live," said Ambersplash at long last, leaning away from the apprentice's small form. "But a lower part of her spine is broken. I can put it straight, but there's little chance she'll ever be able to walk again."

Berrystep's teeth were clenched tightly as she ran her tail down her daughter's blood-soaked side. "Stay with me, Kestrelpaw," she whispered. "Come on. Please."

"I'm—I'm sorry, Berrystep," Creekstar tried to say, but Berrystep turned on him, teeth bared.

"No!" she snarled. "This happened because _you_ weren't paying attention. That's why it happened."

Creekstar dug his claws into the dirt. "I don't understand," he said. "Your daughters disappeared. No one noticed they were gone. So you might as well blame the whole clan."

"You should have been paying better attention," she hissed.

"Neither of them were my apprentices," he continued evenly, even though inside he could feel anger and guilt twisting into a tight knot in his stomach. "I wasn't supposed to be watching them. They're not my children—"

"Oh, so now you're blaming me, are you?" she asked coolly.

"I'm not— _blaming_ anyone," he said stiffly. "It's no one's fault. It was a terrible accident, and I'm sorry that it happened. I wish I could have stopped it." His voice broke a little as he gazed at Kestrelpaw. "Truly."

Berrystep's lips peeled back, and she shoved past him, her tail lashing behind her. Creekstar watched her go. He felt Ambersplash's pelt brush his, and he leaned into her herb-scented warmth, drawing strength from her. He closed his eyes for a moment, and he saw flashes of memory behind his eyelids.

 _"Hey, Berrypaw! Wanna come play with me and Amberpaw and Lilypaw?"_

 _A look of disgust flashed across the she cat's face. "What? Play with you kittypet losers? No thanks!"_

 _"It's okay, we didn't want you to come play anyway!" shouted Lilypaw. "After all, you're a_ CLAN _cat!"_

 _Berrypaw's sky blue eyes went round with hurt, but she gritted her fangs together. "Great! Then we're agreed." She flounced away with her nose in the air, tail swaying like a snake about to strike._

 _"Hah! Who needs her?" said Lilypaw with a purr._

 _Creekpaw peered after her, feeling disappointed. "I…guess we don't," he said, but he sounded unconvincing, even to himself._

"Tristan?"

His sister's gentle voice brought him back to the present.

He shook his head. "Yes, sorry. What?" He suddenly realized that everyone who'd been gathering to see Kestrelpaw and gone. It was just him and Ambersplash now.

She was looking at him with eyes like twin pools of amber water. She tipped her head to the side. "Tristan, I know…I know this was your dream, wasn't it? To come here to the clans. After what Mother told us. Remember how I wanted so badly to believe they were true? But then I started to doubt it. I started to think maybe they were just kit tales. But you never stopped believing."

"Yes?" he said, failing to see the point.

"Faith," she whispered into his ear. "That's your strength, Creekstar. Never lose your faith."

"You mean, faith in StarClan?" he asked.

She smiled softly, just staring at him. Then she leaned her head against his shoulder. "As long as you have faith, so too will all of us."

Creekstar didn't respond at first. Ever since she became a full medicine cat, there were times when he didn't understand a word she said. He touched his nose to her ear. "I'll try, Angie. I promise I'll try, for you."

She smiled a little. "You don't have to try for me, you have to try for _you._ Oh, and Tristan?" Now her eyes were much more serious. "I received a dream from StarClan last night. I saw Leafstar, and she told me…she told me…" Ambersplash closed her eyes and recited in a quiet mystical voice, _"Do not step lightly into what shadows you see before you."_

Creekstar let the ominous words wash over him. He felt a shudder run through him, from nose to tail tip. He repeated the words in his head and swallowed hard. _What does it mean, Leafstar? What shadows do you see in my future?_


	4. Newcomers

"Mama!"

Creekstar jerked awake in the darkness. He heard Lilyshine mumble something from beside him, pushing at him with one hind foot. Smiling fondly down at her swollen belly, he gave her a brief lick on the cheek.

"What's the noise, Creekstar?" she asked sleepily, waking up.

"Don't worry about it, Lily. I'll check it out," he told her.

She smiled with one corner of her mouth. "You haven't called me that in a while…"

"I don't think the clan would really appreciate it," he replied, smiling back.

"Ah, who cares what they think." Lilyshine was starting to sound more awake now. She sat up halfway. "We're kittypets, and we're proud of it! Right, Tristan?"

"Yes…now go back to sleep," he whispered.

She nodded. "But I'm doing it because I'm tired, not because you're telling me to," she added with a little smirk. Then she settled her head on her paws, closing her eyes.

Creekstar stood and stretched her paws, padding out of his den and scenting the air. A strange, foreign scent washed over his tongue when he parted his jaws.

"Mama!" The wail came again. It was coming from the entrance to camp. Creekstar picked up his pace. He snuck through the camp entrance on quiet paws, peering left and right. The strange scent was strong now, but he couldn't see any cat around.

Two scarred blue eyes peered out of the darkness. Creekstar sucked in a breath. A small fluffy black kit was standing in the entrance of camp.

"Mama," the kit sniffled, his wide eyes staring blankly at nothing.

"Where did you come from?" Creekstar whispered, snaking his tail around the kit. The small kit jumped, startled, and squealed, "MAMA!" He tried to run away, but Creekstar caught him by the scruff and carried him into camp, firmly placing him on the ground.

"It's okay, I won't hurt you. I promise," he soothed. "My name's Creekstar. What's yours?"

The tin kit trembled, but he finally managed to croak out, "P-pepper."

"Oh, Pepper! _There_ you are!" a voice panted from behind Creekstar. He turned and glanced over his shoulder to see a large fluffy she-cat with smoky gray fur and wide yellow eyes. She waddled forward to sweep her tail around the small kit, nuzzling his head. He squirmed against her embrace, but she began to roughly wash his fur, and he fell still, his eyes closed tightly.

"He's blind, poor dear, and always gets himself lost," the she-cat said briskly. "I'm sorry to bother you, Mr…?"

"I'm Creekstar," said Creekstar. "And you are?"

"Smoke," she said promptly, flicking an ear in greeting. "This is my little tom Pepper. He and his sister Puff and I were thrown out of our home. Our housefolk didn't want us anymore." She said this all in a businesslike fashion, but Creekstar could see it pained her to say it. "We're sorry about this. We'll be on our way."

"No, no, you should stay," said Creekstar gently. "You could have a home here. This is my clan, SilentClan. I was a kittypet once too. I had housefolk. But they abandoned me and my sister." He crouched down in front of Pepper. "We joined SilentClan and made a place for ourselves here.

"We wouldn't be a bother?" Smoke said hesitantly.

"Not at all," said Creekstar. "Here, the nursery's this way. Just be quiet so you don't wake Ivytail." He ushered them toward it.

"But my daughter, Puff, is waiting back in our den," Smoke fretted. "I have to go fetch her."

"Actually, Mama, I'm right here."

Puff was bigger than her brother, and she padded into the camp with an air of practiced calm. She dipped her head to Creekstar and then trotted up behind her mother.

Smoke pulled her daughter closer with a paw. "You followed me? I told you to stay put!" she scolded fondly. "When I tell you to stay somewhere, you _stay_ there, do you hear me?"

"I think it worked out all right this time," said Puff calmly, shaking out her gray fur and staring up at Creekstar with strangely empty green eyes.

"I'm Creekstar," he said, trying not to be unnerved by her gaze. "And I assume you're Puff?"

"That's right," Puff said.

"It's nice to meet you," said Creekstar.

"We won't stay long. We'll just rest here," said Smoke. "I don't want to trouble you or your…clan." She pulled Puff even closer against her.

"No, it would be no trouble, really, I promise," said Creekstar quickly. "Stay as long as you like. Forever if you want. I'll make sure you and your kits are safe here."

Smoke smiled, a purr rumbling in her throat. "Thank you, Creekstar. You're a kind cat."

He offered her a small smile. "You're welcome."

He turned and was padding back toward his den when Berrystep came out of the warriors' den, stretching. "Creekstar? I heard something and—" Her eyes narrowed. You smell strange…"

"Shh," he said. "Three kittypets just came in. I'm letting them stay in the nursery."

Berrystep's fur bristled. "What? You should have driven them out!" She bared her teeth.

"Berrystep, it was a mother and her two kits," Creekstep said patiently. "I couldn't drive them out."

Berrystep snorted, her tail lashing. "Fine," she muttered.

"You should go back to sleep now. You're on the dawn patrol, aren't you?" Seeing her expression, he shook his head. "I know you don't like kittypets, Berrystep, but it'll be fine. They're not even sure if they want to stay."

"If I were leader, they would be sure they didn't," Berrystep growled under her breath.

"That's why you're not leader," Creekstar sighed.

Berrystep's eyes flashed, but her face smoothed out, expressionless once more. "Very well, Creekstar. You're my leader and I respect your judgement."

He smiled. "Thank you." He headed toward his den, his fur brushing against hers as he passed.

"Wait."

He turned.

Her eyes looked very wide and vulnerable all of a sudden. "Creekstar…"

"Yes?" he said softly, almost holding his breath.

"Nothing," she murmured. "Good night."

He nodded. "Good night, Berrystep."

He couldn't help wondering, as he padded back to his den, what she'd been about to say to him.


End file.
